Out of the Dark

Posted on November 15, 2010 by day1of1

Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me.  The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me.  I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. – John 12:44-46 NIV

Think about those places where you can surround yourself in total darkness.  I know people who tell stories of the backwoods on a cloudy night where there is no moon shining.  The absence of city lights combined with the density of the forest will literally choke out any possibility of light reaching the ground.  But these places are few and far between.  For starters, development has become so widespread that there are few uninhabited places left anymore.  Plus the conditions have to be right to make this happen, so while it is not impossible, it is truly rare to find a place in nature that is totally void of light.  (Now before the commentators chime in – I understand that traveling deep into caves and going on a deep sea exploration will also provide darkness – I guess I’d like to keep this in the realm of places you can access more readily).

For most of us, those places where we can experience total darkness are going to be man-made.  And in that realm, it’s not really difficult to create such a place.  Basements, cellars, closets; any room without windows and a door which seals tightly will produce total darkness.  This is an important distinction – man creates total darkness in a creation where God goes out of His way to provide us with illumination.

Don’t see it? (no pun intended).  Consider the way we were created.   Our eyes were designed with pupils that open wider to allow us to see in places where there is extremely low light.  You know this to be true when you turn out the lights in your bedroom at night.  Initially, you can’t see when the lights go out, but in a matter of seconds your eyes adjust to the new light settings and provide you with as much vision as is possible. Plus light will extend as far as it can to bring illumination in darkness.  Draw the curtains and light will still sneak around them.  Shut the door and the light pours underneath.  In fact, a person must work diligently to achieve total separation from light by immersion into darkness (Remember the caves and ocean floor?  The cellar and the closet?)

Do you have dark places in your life?  If you do, you have probably spent time trying to find effective ways to illuminate them.  In the physical realm, a trip to Lowe’s or Home Depot will do the trick.  However, a trip to the hardware store can’t brighten those dark places that exist in our spiritual lives.  What is your dark place spiritually?  Is it the guilt and shame of a sin you feel can’t be forgiven or forgotten?  Is it the impact on your self-esteem caused by abuse or neglect?  Are you still stinging from an offense someone has committed against you, allowing your sorrow and anger to fester?  Is it a feeling of unworthiness that you hold on to so that when the lights grow too bright you can crawl anonymously back into the shadows of your comfortable hiding place?  You see, darkness doesn’t have to be connected to some horrible deed or tragic event – it can be something as simple as holding onto a lingering lie, maintaining your comfort zone, or simply giving up on your hope that anything will ever change.

Darkness comes in different packages but it always produces the same end result.  When you are in darkness you are isolated.  You lose confidence in yourself and in the knowledge of your surroundings.  Darkness causes you to grow fearful, leaving you groping around for anything familiar.  When you find something you think you recognize, something you think will help you, you commit to it without the full assurance of its benefits.  Darkness greatly increases your risk of injury while greatly decreasing your chances of being helped by anyone else.  That’s a pretty hefty list of issues.  How could we possibly solve so many significant and dangerous problems?  It’s simple – turn on the light!

In John 12:46, Jesus explains this clearly as He says, “I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.”  You only have to struggle with darkness if you refuse to turn on the light.  Christ came to bring us light.  In Him all of those issues and struggles we face that would otherwise try to shroud us in darkness are exposed.  With illumination comes recognition of the problems, opportunities to solve them, and the vision to overcome and avoid them in the future.  Christ is our light – may He shine brightly to chase away the darkness from every area of our lives.

Posted in Devotional | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Promotion by Erosion

Posted on November 11, 2010 by day1of1

The LORD is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked advance against me to devour me, it is my enemies and my foes who will stumble and fall. Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then I will be confident. – Psalm 27:1-3
Ever come to that place in life where you have reached the conclusion that you have had enough? Now let me be careful here – I’m not talking about doing anything dangerous or harmful to your health. Instead, I’m thinking about those moments in life where you pause, assess things, and say to yourself, “I don’t like where I am today. It’s time for something else.” And so with that in mind, we begin to ask God for a few things. We seek His blessing, asking Him to provide us with new opportunities, new challenges, and promotion to new levels in our life, our work, and in our ministries. But I wonder if we truly understand what it is we are asking for when we approach the throne with this request.
Change is a word that we often talk about. For many, change is desired but unattained. The reason for this is simple: Change of any type requires work. Change without work is deterioration, but even that requires a certain level of energy to be exerted to cause things to break down. Still don’t grasp this?Consider rocks in a stream. Even the hardest of rocks in a current will eventually grow smooth because of the water continually running over them. Think about it – an element as soft as water will create a level of friction strong enough to erode solid rock. The change to the stones will take place over time, but only after they have endured enough friction to effectively change them. But the end results are magnificent – those rocks change from being rough and ugly to something smooth and decorative. So just as a rock will endure enough friction to cause it to change into something more beautiful, we too must face friction in order to experience the change we need and desire.
God is the artisan who is busy at work creating a masterpiece in each and every one of us. However, by choosing man as His medium, God is working with pieces far more challenging than any stone, clay or canvas. The marble didn’t tell Michelangelo where to carve. The canvas never ran away from Picasso as he began to apply the paint. But we – a creation given the will to choose our own path – can prove incredibly difficult and incompliant when He works to make changes in us. Stubbornness, sloth, impatience, and a lack of trust will hinder His abilities to work in us. Some of us avoid change. Some desire it but want it to happen without friction or discomfort. Some are unable to accept it because they are chained to a past that prevents them from embracing the change – no matter how positive it may be. Still others simply know better and reject His changes in favor of making choices on their own.
I don’t want to mislead – allowing the process of change to take place in your life is not easy. Our routines became our routines for a reason. Taking the steps to do what is right, to do what is best, and to do what we’re not immediately comfortable with can leave us facing some of the most difficult challenges we’ll ever know. But ask anyone who has ever accomplished what they set out to do and they’ll tell you that reaching their goal was worth the struggle and the pain. From personal experience, I can tell you that while I may not always like the food options I have been given, I do not miss any one of the 175 pounds that I’ve lost with the help of God. Furthermore, success in one area drives me to work harder to receive the other blessings I ask God for daily: the restoration of a broken relationship, financial stability, improving health, and success in my writing ministry. That’s my list. Here’s my plan – I begin by asking God for these things, to make known the desires of my heart. I follow up by asking for Him to guide me to the resources I need in each of these areas. I follow up learning with actions – taking all of the necessary steps to prepare myself for God to work in my life.
When the pieces are in place and the time is right, I believe that God will do what He has promised to do in my life – and in yours. Maintain your hope, build your faith, and act with the power of our great and mighty God working on your behalf.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Expectation

Posted on November 8, 2010 by day1of1

I was reading the account in John 11 about the death and resurrection of Lazarus.  I’ve heard the story dozens of times before, but found something new in my reading tonight that I’d like to share with you.  You’re no doubt familiar with the story.  Lazarus falls ill, Jesus is called for but does not arrive in time to save him.  Christ meets Martha and Mary and goes to Lazarus’s tomb where He asks for the stone to be rolled away.  Martha questions this decision, citing that the body would have begun to smell after four days, but Jesus persists.  In John 11:40, He replies to Martha’s objections with this reminder, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?”

 
It is at that moment in the story that my imagination ran wild.  Earlier, both Martha and Mary had declared boldly that Jesus would have prevented their brother’s death.  Furthermore, it was Martha who confessed to Jesus that, “You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”  Now Jesus has made a statement to her that had to rock her world.  Why say what He just said, why move the stone if He wasn’t going to raise Lazarus from the dead?  I am trying to place myself in her position, to imagine for a brief moment what hearing that statement must have felt like.  Can you imagine the anticipation of knowing that Christ was about to do something so miraculous in her life?  Maybe she didn’t put the pieces together, but I’d like to think that she knew at the moment that Christ would be bringing her dearly loved brother back from the dead.  How amazing that must have felt!

 
And that got me to thinking, how is that feeling any different than the emotions that you or I might feel on a daily basis when Christ speaks over our lives, promising to do what He said He would do in our lives if we would only believe?  You see, even though we are not mourning the loss of a recently departed loved one, we, like Martha and Mary cannot hide from God the true desires of our hearts.  God knows these things and is ready to provide them to us as well, in both the natural and supernatural realms.  How fortunate we are that He knows us so well, making it possible for us to believe, to confess, and to expect such great things.  And so if Martha’s heart was filled with even a fraction of the joy that I feel about those things for which I am believing, confessing, and expecting from the Lord, I can say with all certainty that in fact, I do know what she was feeling at that amazing moment.  And in faith, I know that you feel it too.

 
May God bless and keep you.  May He fill your life with every gift that He has stored up for you so that you will know the same joy that filled Martha’s heart when He answered her prayers.

Posted in Devotional | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Still

Posted on November 4, 2010 by day1of1

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 8:38-39

I love you.  Always have.  Always will.

I loved you before I even knew you.  I have loved you from the moment I first thought about you, imagining who you would be and what you would mean to me.

From that time I have spent every minute of every day preparing for you.  I have provided for your every need, considered your heart’s desires, and continue to give you every good thing I have set aside for you.  I don’t do this because I have to – I choose to do it because I have chosen you.  You are special – unlike any other.  You hold a special place in all of creation.  This only serves to make me love you more.  Why do I do this?

I do it because I love you and I want you to love me too.

Yes, it’s that simple.  Everything I have done, am doing, and ever will do hinges on my strong desire to have a relationship with you.  I enjoy our time together.  I appreciate what we have shared.  Looking forward, it is my hope to be able to share love with you forever.

That is my hope when we are together.  That is my hope when we are apart.

Apart – a devastating place.  You might be surprised that despite my best efforts I am sometimes separated from one that I love.  This is because love is a choice, and something that I will not force.  To do so would cause it to cease to be love, and your love is what I desire.  So what can I do when you choose to turn away?  There are only two choices…

I can let you go, or I can love you even more.

I could cut you loose, but why would I?  Who could possibly replace you?  You are an original – the one and only.  You were made with a purpose; filled with a unique anointing.  There is no substitute for you.  There is nothing else in all of creation that I desire more.

And so my response is to love you more.  I wait for you patiently when you turn your back to me.  I follow wherever you go every time you walk away.  I search for you when you go missing, and when your wandering puts you in danger I come to your rescue.  Your captors can not keep you.  The ransom has been paid.  The cost was great but so too was the prize I claimed.  Nothing can ever change my heart: no words, no thoughts, no insubordinate acts.  It’s not possible because…

You are still the love of my life.

Posted in Devotional | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Running

Posted on October 31, 2010 by day1of1

One of the unique things about the movie Forrest Gump is the way the movie divides itself up into chapters of his life.  You have childhood, college, military service, ping pong, and shrimp boat captain, just to name a few.  And while they all have their own important place in the development of the movie with a few common themes that connect them, there is one chapter that creates an interesting parallel with the lives that many struggling Christians find themselves living.

Early one morning Jenny had confessed to Forrest that she did love him, we find her inexplicably getting into a cab, bags packed, leaving for God knows where.  Even the cab driver greets her with the question, “Where are you running off to”?  Her answer was a firm yet unconvincing “I’m not running.”  But despite saying the words, it is clear that she is, once again, running away from the only man she has ever known to love her unconditionally.  As an observer, you feel frustrated by her actions mixed with sorrow for her inability to receive Forrest’s love.  She is denying both her and Forrest the opportunity to live and love together.  Instead, she made the choice to run.

Forrest awakes and is obviously confused by Jenny’s latest departure.  As he sits on his porch and assesses this latest turn in his life, he suddenly rises and begins running across his yard, down the street, and ultimately across the country several times.  As the movie eventually tells us, Forrest ran for 3 years, 2 months, 14 days, and 16 hours (which is surprising to hear him say this – knowing a fact like that seems more consistent with Rain Man than Forrest Gump).  This isn’t the first time Jenny left him, nor is it the first time he had to make a choice about what to do with his life, but at that moment, he made the choice to run.

What seems strange to me throughout this segment of the film is the followers Forrest gets.  Consider the words of the first guy who decides to join him on his travels.
“It’s you.  I can’t believe it’s really you.  It was like an alarm went off in my head.  I said, Here’s a guy that’s got his act together.  Here’s somebody who has the answer.  I’ll follow you anywhere, Mr. Gump.”
Is this guy serious?  He heard about this guy who’s running back and forth across the country without any real reason or cause and decided to join him because he had figured things out.  A lost soul in search of answers will look for them in some of the most interesting places, and so he made the choice to run.
All good runners have one thing in common: they have a destination in mind.  It can be a place, a distance, or a time.  But each of these runners seemed to be running for very different reasons.  Forrest was surprised that people couldn’t understand this, but is it really so hard to understand?  I think that if you bring things back into a proper perspective, it becomes easy to see how dangerous running can be.

Jenny was running away – away from her pain, guilt, and shame.  She was unable to face what had happened before and the hurt gave her a deep sense of worthlessness.  Because of her fear, she ran away from the best thing that she had been given.  Sadder still is the fact that she knew it but still worked hard to justify her actions in terms that made sense to her.  Her story is tragic because of the 2 lives that this would ultimately cost her.  You see, she lost her physical life due to illness, but she also lost the life of love, peace, and joy that Forrest would have provided.
Speaking of Forrest, he too is a runner.  His reason for running was no reason in particular.  He tells you this.  With TV reporters probing him with questions about why he was running, he explains, “I just felt like running.”  No reason in particular – just something to do.  Now even with Forrest’s limited intelligence he should have known that he had other options – focused purposes to explore, for that matter – spend some of that time running around looking for her.  But no, he just ran.  Barriers didn’t stop him – they merely turned him in a different direction.  As he reached oceans, he said that he would turn around and keep on running.  This sounds admirable – perseverance, sacrifice, dedication and initiative are all words you could use, but you could also say backtracking, retreating, and escaping.  No, he wasn’t running away from something like Jenny – he was just running to move; passing the time until something else happened to give him reason to stop.

Our third runner is the young man who follows Forrest wherever he goes.  This runner differs from the first two, but his rationale is equally empty.  He runs simply to follow.  He has no specific knowledge of where he should be going; of what he should do.  So he started searching for what looked good and without stepping back and seeing the bigger picture – he ran with it.  Think about it objectively – would you walk up to somebody you heard about on TV or read about in the Sunday paper and immediately drop everything in your life to follow him as his crossed the country doing nothing except running?  This sounds absurd, but how many people do you know who have given away their life to someone else for one reason or another without a thought of the consequences that might follow?

God speaks clearly to our trio of runners, and to those of us who can relate to them.
For the Jennys who think they are strong enough to outrun their life’s hurts there’s Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”  Jenny – please don’t throw away what God is giving you.  Stop running and let Him heal you, soften your heart, ease your fears, and let you know the fullness of what He has for you.
Our Forrests are given the words of Ephesians 2:10: ” For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”  Your life has a purpose.  God made you with a specific destiny in mind.  We must not waste time or energy simply being busy.  We must seek out our purposes and pursue them boldly.  Forrest – discover what it is you are supposed to learn in your current situation and use this knowledge to boldly move into the next chapter fully prepared for what God is bringing you.
And finally, for our hopeless follower looking for someone, anyone who can give him direction I offer Proverbs 28:5: “Evil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the LORD understand it fully.”  The world answers questions with more questions that more often than not leave us unsatisfied.  The Lord offers clarity and truth beyond anything the world can bring.  Young Man – stop running, fall to your knees and seek the face and voice of God to give your life direction, focus, and clarity.  In Him you will find the answers to every question you have.

Run with a purpose and a destination in mind – one established through by seeking God’s perfect will for our lives.  Train with vigor – preparing yourself by following the regimen that God has given you.  Finally, complete your work by running the race with all you have.  Give everything so that in Him you may run victoriously, receiving your great and glorious reward from the One who desires that you never run away from Him.

Posted in Devotional | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Blown Away

Posted on October 27, 2010 by day1of1

Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. – Mark 11:22-24

The weather forecast for this morning was unlike one I had ever heard before.  The forecast called for extremely unstable weather – sustained high winds, strong gusts, severe storms, heavy rain, and possible tornadoes.  The radio announcer described the weather we’d experience today as potentially the most severe storm to hit the Great Lakes region in decades.  Strong words to describe conditions that could quickly become dangerous.

As the day progressed the sky got cloudy.  The winds picked up, a little.  It rained, a little.  And by the time I drove home from work this afternoon, I was under blue skies and reaching for my sunglasses.  I know that others in the region may have experienced some bad weather today, but that simply was not the case in my area.  Hour by hour, it became apparent that the doom predicted by the meteorologists simply wasn’t going to materialize.  As this developed, so too did the reactions from people.  I watched people at work, read comments on Facebook, and heard reporters on the radio speak critically of the weather forecast for the day.  “Where’s the storm?”  “Why do they scare people like that?”  “Once again they predict the worst and nothing ever happens.”  I heard more, but you get the idea.

So, what happened?  I’m sure there are sound scientific reasons that could be explained by a meteorologist, but let me give you my explanation.  I, along with many others in the area prayed it away.  Yes, you read that correctly.  We prayed the storm away.

In Mark 11 Jesus explains the power that prayer has in our lives.  If you believe and ask in prayer, it will happen.  Today’s weather was threatening and I had children who would potentially be out in those conditions. There was no way that I was going to just hope for the best – I took it to God.  I asked that God would let the storm would pass without endangering my children.  After praying, I went about my day confident that God would do what I had asked Him to do, and you saw the results.

Some of you may think that I am bragging – but I’m not.  I don’t think for a moment that God is sitting in heaven waiting for me to call the shots.  But He was clear that I am supposed to ask Him for the desires of my heart in prayer, so I did.  Once asked, I need to leave it in His hands, staying confident in Him to do what I have asked as it aligns with His will expressed in His word.  It’s simple: I did what God told me to do and God did what He promised to do.  Still don’t believe me?  That’s okay – I didn’t say it anyway, so you’re not disagreeing with me – you’re disagreeing with God.

Think about the power God is giving you through the prayers we bring.  What situations in your life or in the lives of people you know need to be restored, fixed, and improved?  Pray for God to act in these things without hesitation and without doubt.  He will return what was lost, fix what was broken, provide what is needed, protect you from danger, resolve what is plaguing you, and maximize the blessings He has chosen to give you.  God will heal sickness, improve finances, comfort hurts, restore relationships, build confidence, forgive sins, console the grieving, and so much more.

Put your total trust in Him, and unlike the weather, you’ll be blown away!

Posted in Devotional | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Childlike

Posted on October 25, 2010 by day1of1

So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God – Ephesians 3:17-19

 
This morning as I lied in bed, lingering there after completing my prayers, I was struck with something interesting:  my daughter’s knee into the small of my back.  It amazes me how a 45 pound girl can deliver a shot in her sleep that could win her an Ultimate Fighting Championship title.  This painful wake-up call got me thinking about how blessed I am.  Blessed with a child who loves me enough to want to be with me, blessed to be able to provide her with that level of security, and yes – blessed to have ibuprofen on hand for just such an emergency.  But all kidding aside, this morning’s encounter gave me an interesting revelation about the love of a child in relation to the love that God has for us.

 
The love that a young child holds for their parents is amazing. You can’t appreciate it unless you are a parent.  The feeling of your infant curled up in your arms, warm, safe, and happy is a blessing and a joy.

 
The love of a child is great, but it becomes pure bliss once that love is shared by choice.  Early in their lives, children are so physically, emotionally, and psychologically dependent upon their parents that they find it easy to show them love.  It’s natural.  However, in time those children develop and begin to formulate their own views and opinions – including decisions about who they love and why.  To realize that your child has reached a point where they know who you are, what you stand for, your strengths and your weaknesses and after all of that they still throw their arms around you and say without doubt or hesitation, “I love you” – that is when you feel the full power of the love they have for you.

 
It is unfortunate, but far too many people view God and the love that He has for us in the same way that they view the love of a child.  Why do people treat God as if He has no choice but to love us – like He’s required to and therefore has no say in the matter?  This couldn’t be further from the truth.  God is not bound by some universal code to love us – it is His choice. 

 
In Jeremiah 31:3, God shows us the choice He made when He says, “The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.’”  There is nothing forced about these statements – this was a conscious decision He made on our behalf.  And how much does God love us?  Ephesians 5:2 eliminates any doubt as Paul explains the choice Jesus made on our behalf, beseeching us to, “live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

 
Love is an amazing gift from God that He allows us to share with Him and those special people He brings into our lives.  May we be ready, willing, and committed to make the choice to love with the fullness that was established for us in Genesis, confirmed for us at Golgotha, and willingly renewed every day by our great and wonderful God.

 
But now, I must be off to bed.  I seem to get my best sleep earlier in the evening, before my “guest” arrives.

Posted in Devotional | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

By Your Side

Posted on October 22, 2010 by day1of1

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. – Isaiah 41:10

 
I recently was given the opportunity to speak in chapel at Concordia University, Ann Arbor.  On Wednesdays, the format for chapel is one that features storytelling.  As I prayed about what I wanted to do this semester, God impressed upon me the importance of sharing my weight loss testimony.   The basis of it can be found in two of my previous blog posts – Worth the Weight and Still Weighting.  But while the basis for the talk can be found there, I was pleased to find that God had something more for me to learn by the experience.

 
With the different format, I opted to use a recorded contemporary Christian song instead of something out of the hymnal.  I was comfortable with that format, having used many “canned” songs during chapels when I was teaching in an elementary school.  But for this occasion, I wanted to make sure that I chose a song that would truly convey the message God had given me to speak.  I found it in Tenth Avenue North’s 2008 song, By Your Side.  Here are the lyrics.  Click on the title to hear the song via YouTube.

 
By Your Side

Why are you striving these days?  Why are you trying to earn grace?
Why are you crying?  Let me lift up your face.  Just don’t turn away.

Why are you looking for love?  Why are you still searching as if I’m not enough?
To where will you go child?  Tell me where will you run?  To where will you run?

‘Cause I’ll be by your side, Wherever you fall
In the dead of night, Whenever you call
And please don’t fight these hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you

Look at these hands and my side.  They swallowed the grave on that night.
When I drank the world’s sin, So I could carry you in, And give you life
I want to give you life

And I’ll be by your side, Wherever you fall
In the dead of night, Whenever you call
And please don’t fight these hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you

Here in my side, Wherever you fall
In the dead of night, Whenever you call
And please don’t fight these hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you

Cause I, I love you.  I want you to know
That I, I love you.  I’ll never let you go.

And I’ll be by your side, Wherever you fall
In the dead of night, Whenever you call
And please don’t fight these hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you

Here in my side, Wherever you fall
In the dead of night, Whenever you call
And please don’t fight these hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you

Here in my side, my hands are holding you.

 
When I am writing or preparing to speak with a particular song in mind, I will do so with the song playing in the background.  I will play it over and over, to get a feel for the words, the meaning, and the emotions that the song is trying to evoke.  As I listened to this song, I found many things I’d like to write about (and I eventually will).  The first verse focuses on our habit of trying to do things without the help of God.  The second verse talks about our inclination to run from difficulties instead of facing up to them.  The chorus (which provided the connection to my chapel talk and the verse from Isaiah 41) reminds us that God not only paid the price for our salvation, but that He is with us everywhere we go and at every moment of every day.  But in the middle of all of that comes a short thought – only 20 words in length, but they are, without a doubt the most powerful words of the entire song.  It is God speaking to us, saying…

 
“Cause I, I love you.  I want you to know that I, I love you.  I’ll never let you go.”

 
Take a moment to think about it.  How many times in your life has someone looked into your eyes and told you “I love you” and really meant it.  They didn’t say it because they wanted something in return or because they felt that was just what they were supposed to say at that moment.  They didn’t say it because it just felt right or to see what kind of response they could get from you.  They said it because it was the truth.  That person holds you in that place in their heart where only a select few are welcomed.  Who was it?  Maybe it was a special man or woman – your husband, wife, future spouse, a parent or a child.  What did you feel when you heard it?  Were you surprised?  Overjoyed?  Scared?  Perhaps the feeling has no words, or maybe it’s a combination of so many things that you can easily describe it in a short statement.  If hearing and knowing beyond the shadow of a doubt that you are truly loved by someone here on earth is such an amazing thing, how much greater is it when the person speaking is God? 

 
We are loved by the Creator of the Universe; our omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient Heavenly Father.  And this is not merely demonstrated by words.  He is the One who sent His own dear Son to die for us that our sin would no longer separate us from Him and the fullness of the blessings He has for us.

 
We need not fear.  We need not doubt.  The love of God is powerful, available, and sufficient for all of our needs.  May we never forget nor regret hearing those words.  May His love eliminate our fear as it fills our lives in ways we’ve never dreamt possible – now and forever.

Posted in Devotional | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Artificial Sweeteners

Posted on October 16, 2010 by day1of1

Sweetest Day is fast approaching – a day created primarily by confectioners to get men to buy their wives or girlfriends candy.  To some, Sweetest Day is a wonderful opportunity to show that special someone just how special they are.  To others, Sweetest Day is a manufactured holiday designed to help a few businesses fill their coffers during an otherwise slow period of the year.  In my mind, there’s an element of both sentiments that can be found in it.  If I had a dictionary, my definition of Sweetest Day would read something like this:

Sweetest Day – An observance on the third Saturday of October which encourages us to treat the people we love in the way God instructs us to treat them every day.

 
This is a classic example of how man can come up with a brilliant idea that pales in comparison to the plan God set into place centuries ago.  Why do we need a specific day set aside to demonstrate the love we have for the special people in our lives?  Shouldn’t we be living this as our reality every day? Why don’t we show that love more often?  Why do we allow those who love us to get away with it? Reducing ourselves to loving one another only when the calendar says so, or at those times when it is easy, convenient, or beneficial is like telling somebody that an artificial sweetener tastes just as good and is better for you as real sugar. 

 
You can spin it all you want but you know that the manmade stuff simply isn’t as good as what God provided for us from the very beginning.  And this isn’t just in terms of taste.  The top artificial sweeteners all have side effects and at least one has been reported to have infiltrated our water supply as a whole because waste water treatment facilities are unable to break it down.  So if we continue our analogy, how then can we possibly think that a partial relationship or a worldly substitute for what God has provided is good for us? 
In Ephesians 5:25 Paul makes it very clear that we are to follow God’s model within our relationships when he says, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.”  So let me ask you:  Are one or two or even half a dozen expressions of love and gratitude per year enough?  If Christ were to love us just as we tend to love one another, we’d find Him expressing tremendous love for us on Christmas, Good Friday, and Easter, but by Ascension Day He’d be out the door getting a break from “the old ball and chain.”  How thankful we are that this is not true, and how much more fortunate we are to have a proper model to show us how we should love each and every day.  Bring her flowers on a random Tuesday.  Make dinner just to give her a break.  Hold open every door.  Help her put on her coat.  Rub her neck, her back, even her feet.  Write her notes, love letters, poems and songs.  Go see the movies and shows that she likes.  But above all, be the strong man of God she needs – a man who is worthy of the titles of husband, father, and spiritual head of the household.

 
This point is made clear to those people who are in relationships, but what about those of us who are not.  What is our role and responsibility in making every day the sweetest it can be?  Frankly, it is one and the same.  Every day of my life I am showing love to my future wife through my diligent, obedient growth in my faith in God.  As I wait for God’s timing to bring me and her to that place where we are able to fully enjoy the blessings He has in store for us, I work every day to prepare myself for her.  I build my faith so that I will love her fully, patiently, and with the depth necessary for a daughter of the Most High God.  I prepare my house, building up stability in every area of my personal finances, career, and future.  I hold myself accountable to build and strenghten my character so that I am living each day with integrity and godliness.  I will continue to demonstrate these traits until such time as God gives us the word to come together, to share in a love that only He could provide, and to shower her with an abundance of every good gift God has given me every day for the rest of my life.  I don’t do this to sound pathetic or hopelessly romantic.  I do it because God has directed me to do so.  He is true to His word.  He is perfect in His timing.  And because the love He has for me is far greater than any worldly expression of emotion I could know, I desire nothing less than that same level of complete love in my life…
…with absolutely nothing artificial added, required, or desired!

Posted in Devotional | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Movie in My Mind

Posted on October 13, 2010 by day1of1

He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” – Matthew 17:20

 
Ever have a day where a song plays in your mind and you can’t seem to shake it?  No, I don’t mean some annoying song that someone mentions and it drives you nuts – something more like a soundtrack for what you’re feeling, thinking or experiencing.

 
I always get a little nervous when I ask questions like this – mainly because I’m afraid that I might be the only person this happens to and you’ll not only think I’m weird, but you’ll have evidence from my own confession.  But seeing how it’s too late for me to deny it, I might as well continue down this track.

 
All day today I have had a song from the musical Miss Saigon running through my head: The Movie in My Mind (Click the title to hear the song).  Never heard of it?  Well let me explain.  Miss Saigon tells the story of Kim, a young orphaned Vietnamese girl who turns to prostitution to survive.  The musical begins with her being “shown the ropes by some of the veterans of her group, including Mimi Van Tran – the woman who wins the title of “Miss Saigon” and begins the song.  Both women talk about how they are coping with the challenges they are currently experiencing because of the dream they hold that one of these men will not merely use them but actually come to love them and give them the better life they desire.    For Kim, she is trying to come to grips with where her life has brought her.  For Mimi, she is trying to get lost in the dream in order to forget her reality.  The song is melodic yet haunting, but through it all it reveals to us an interesting irony and an important truth.

 
You could argue that the song in nothing more than a mask for the hopelessness they actually feel.  But what we learn over time is that when life brings us to moments of total despair – those places where we have absolutely nothing but hope, we can, in fact, cling fast to the hope that God has given us out of His boundless love for us.  Life simply cannot create a situation that leaves us lower than God’s outstretched arms can reach.  If we find ourselves hiding in the bushes with Adam and Eve, cowering in the cave with David or Elijah, in the lion’s den with Daniel, in the belly of a fish with Jonah, shipwrecked and adrift in the open sea with Paul, or even lying in the grave next to Lazarus, there is no place, no situation, no circumstance that we face in life in which God does not have control.  Our faith in Him, the promises He has made to us, and the Holy Spirit living in our hearts give us everything we need to not only maintain our hope, but to do so with a boldness, a confidence, and an expectation that God will keep His word and deliver us according to His will for our lives.  So it’s not the movie in our mind but the Spirit in our heart.

 
Through Him we can live with an unparalleled hope, no matter what the world may say or what the situation might show.

Posted in Devotional | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment